Highlights of this issue

Perindopril for improving physical function in elderly people

In this 20-week randomized trial involving 130 functionally impaired elderly patients without heart failure, Sumukadas and colleagues found that perindopril significantly improved exercise capacity and maintained health-related quality of life compared with placebo. In a related commentary, Cranney calls for further research to confirm and explain the effects of ACE inhibition on muscle function.

See pages 867 and 891

A lifestyle intervention for prevention of cardiovascular disease

In this 1-year randomized trial of 611 individuals, Wister and colleagues found that a standardized intervention incorporating risk assessment and telephone counselling improved cardiovascular risk factors among those at risk for coronary disease, but not among those with established coronary disease. In a related commentary, Alter discusses the evidence surrounding therapeutic lifestyle and disease-management interventions.

See pages 859 and 887

Predictors of inappropriate antibiotic prescribing among primary care physicians

The reasons why physicians prescribe antibiotics inappropriately are not fully understood. In this retrospective cohort study of 852 primary care physicians in Quebec, Cadieux and colleagues found that international medical graduates, physicians with high practice volumes and those in practice longer were more likely to prescribe antibiotics inappropriately. In a related commentary, Arnold discusses the challenges in changing physicians' antibiotic-prescribing behaviour.

See pages 877 and 895

Practice

Parkins and colleagues describe a case of severe influenza-related complications in a pregnant woman and discuss the importance of influenza vaccination in this high-risk group (page 851).

Di Stefani and colleagues describe 2 cases of phrynoderma that developed after substantial weight loss (page 855).